In the Rain
by Dior Crystal
Summary: Aizen has banished Grimmjow from Hueco Mundo. When Ichigo comes across a lost, freezing and starving Grimmjow, will he help the teal haired arrancar? Shounen ai. GrimmIchi.


Ichigo was not in a good mood. He had woken up late because he had forgotten to set his alarm clock, gotten hit by one of his father's morning kicks, came to late school, got yelled at by his teachers and then received detention for not handing in his homework (in his haste to get to school, he had forgotten to bring it). On top of that, it was now raining. Luckily, he had kept an umbrella in his locker in case it should ever rain and was now trudging down the rain soaked street back to his home under the protection of the umbrella.

The orange haired teen shivered, holding his jacket close, the biting cold of the wind going right through him. Things could not possibly get any worse than this.

When he passed the park near his home, he came to a stop. There was a shivering figure crouched under a tree. The person had unruly, teal hair. Ichigo raised an eyebrow, curious. Who on earth could be out here in the rain? _Could it be?_

* * *

Grimmjow cursed himself for his stupidity. But most of all, he cursed that fucking Aizen for being such a fucking asshole.

The teal haired arrancar was shivering; he was soaked to the skin, some of his hair was plastered to his face. He would not be surprised if his lips were as blue as his hair by now. He drew his knees up to his chest, hugging them, trying to keep himself warm. To top it all off, Grimmjow could feel a low rumble in his stomach, his stomach whining to him. He was fucking hungry.

He really was in deep shit. He had no money, food or shelter.

How the hell was he supposed to_ survive_?

Damn Aizen.

Aizen had banished him from Las Noches and consequently dumped him here, in the real world, with no means of ever returning to Hueco Mundo. Not only that, the brown haired git even stripped Grimmjow of all of his powers, leaving him as harmless as a little kitten. Yes, he could see the irony. And just because he had made a comment that Tousen was getting a little chunky.

Grimmjow scowled darkly into the rain. Tousen should really get a life. He was such a woman.

I mean, what kind of man cries at a little comment like that, for God's sake?

He had been wandering around the real world for two days now, without so much as food and water to quench his hunger. He really was starving. If he did not die from pneumonia, he would surely die from starvation. It was torture watching mothers bringing their children to the park to have a picnic. Grimmjow could steal some food, but he had too much pride to resort to stealing like a common street urchin. The fucking Sexta Espada would not lower himself to becoming a petty thief. And he did not want to risk getting himself into even more trouble. Since he had lost all of his powers, this was probably a very wise decision.

The teal haired arrancar had taken to sleeping on benches in the park, using newspapers as a blanket, seeing that he had no place to stay. It was uncomfortable, but it had to do.

Damn the rain.

Where was he supposed to sleep tonight? He supposed that he could sleep under the tree if the rain lasted till night time. Damn.

No doubt that he smelled like sour ass right now. Grimmjow lowered his face to his knees, realizing how miserable and pathetic his situation was.

_Splash._

He stiffened. Someone was coming. He squinted. He could hardly make out the figure, what with all of the rain. Whatever. What does it matter anyhow? Sighing, he dropped his gaze to the ground.

_Splash._

_Splash._

_Splash._

"…" Grimmjow stared resolutely at his feet. It was probably some weirdo that decided to take a walk in the rain. The retard.

"Grimmjow?"

The Sexta nearly snapped his neck when he looked up so fast to see who had uttered his name. "Kurosaki??"

On Ichigo's face was his perpetual frown. He looked down at the teal haired arrancar suspiciously, distrust written plainly on his face. Once he had identified that the person under the tree really was Grimmjow, his body automatically took on a more defensive stance. "What are you doing here?" Ichigo hissed, his eyes nearly turning into slits.

"None of your fucking business," was the arrancar's reply. "Just leave me alone."

"The hell I'm not! Not till I know what are you doing here!" Ichigo reached down to grab the arrancar's jacket, pulling him up so that they were now seeing eye to eye. "Tell me. Now."

Grimmjow raised his hand and placed it on Ichigo's wrist, weakly trying to loosen the orange haired teen's grip on his uniform. "Just piss off." He turned his face away, shame burning his cheeks at being seen in such a weak state by the enemy.

"I said, tell me!" Ichigo said, his voice dangerously low and threatening. "If you don't tell me, I am going to take out my zanpaktou and cut you into ribbons."

"Just do it. I don't care."

"Wha-?" Ichigo was surprised at the lack of emotion from Grimmjow. Normally, the teal haired arrancar could not wait to get into a fight and start slashing everything in sight. If anything, the threat that Ichigo had just given him should have perked him right up. But the Sexta did nothing of the sort. In fact, he did not even attempt to attack Ichigo. "You are joking, right? This is some sort of sick joke. Let's fight already!" The arrancar's unusual behaviour was creeping him out.

"I'm not in the mood to fight."

Ichigo blinked. Once. Twice.

What the fuck was wrong with the Sexta?

That was when Ichigo realized for the first time how Grimmjow looked. Ichigo was not really paying attention to the arrancar's appearance but now that he was looking at the older man closely, Ichigo could see how different the arrancar looked. Grimmjow was thinner than the last time he had seen him and under his eyes were dark circles. His usually unruly blue hair was messier than usual and looked matted. The Sexta usually had an air of pride and confidence about him but that was gone. The way he stood, acted and spoke held none of his former pride and confidence. There was just a defeated look in his eyes. It was so unlike him.

Ichigo's face softened, his grip on the arrancar's uniform loosening slightly. In spite of himself, his heart went out for Grimmjow. "What happened, Grimmjow?" Ichigo said softly. "Is something wrong?"

"…"

Ichigo sighed. So the arrancar did not want to answer him. That was fine. It was not any of his business anyways. "I'm sorry. I don't really have the right to pry-"

"Aizen banished me from Hueco Mundo."

Silence.

Ichigo was stunned. "He what?" He looked at Grimmjow disbelievingly. He had let go of the arrancar's jacket, allowing the taller man to stand up on his feet but the man just slid back down to the ground, looking very small and lost. "You can't be serious?" The downcast look on Grimmjow's face only proved that he was telling the truth. Ichigo looked down at Grimmjow, sympathy bubbling within him.

Then Ichigo did a surprising thing. He slid his jacket off of his shoulders and kneeled down, placing his jacket over Grimmjow's own shoulders. "Wear this. That thing you are wearing can't possibly be enough to keep you warm."

Grimmjow looked up, surprised at Ichigo's sudden change of heart. He had never been spoken to in that way or received any form of kindness whatsoever. This act of kindness that Ichigo was displaying to him was a very new experience. Not that it was bad. In fact, it felt kind of… nice. He kind of liked it. But Ichigo was right. He was shivering in his own tiny, revealing jacket. Tears were threatening to spring into his cerulean eyes but he held them back. He was not going to cry in front of Ichigo. It did not matter that his throat felt raw and stung from holding back the tears; he did not want to lose any more face in front of Ichigo. He was too stunned to say anything. So he only said the only thing that seemed appropriate to say. "T-t-thank you," he said quietly.

Ichigo's face broke into a kind smile, his warm brown eyes gazing into his own cerulean ones. The young man really was attractive despite his crazy hair colour (orange, of all things) but who was he to talk? He was the one with blue hair for crying out loud. Grimmjow could not help gazing back into Ichigo's warm brown eyes. The kid really should smile more often instead of frowning all of the time. This expression suited him more. It lifted years off of his face and made him look like what he really was – a teenager. Not a person burdened with many responsibilities. Not a boy who was forced to grow up way too soon and take on responsibilities that even an adult would find taxing. Not a boy who was expected to save lives.

"It is alright. You need it more than I do." Ichigo still had that kind smile on his face. Grimmjow wished that that smile would never go away.

Grimmjow looked down, unable to meet Ichigo's gaze any longer. After all of the things that he had done, he felt that he did not deserve such kind treatment. Especially not from Ichigo, of all people. "I don't deserve this," he murmured painfully.

"Hey. I'm sure you would have done the same for me."

The Sexta gave him an incredulous look.

Ichigo winced. "Yeah, okay, maybe not. That's just wishful thinking right there." The orange haired teen chuckled.

When Grimmjow looked back down at the ground again, still unable to comprehend the act of kindness that Ichigo was giving him, Ichigo lifted Grimmjow's chin so that they would meet eye to eye. "Come now. Let's get you into some dry clothes. And you must be starving. Let's grab something to eat." He moved his hand from the arrancar's chin to cup Grimmjow's cheek, rubbing his cheek with his thumb. Grimmjow reached up and put one of his hands over Ichigo's, keeping it in place on his cheek. He closed his eyes, enjoying the warmth that extended from Ichigo's hand.

As soon as Ichigo's warm hand was on Grimmjow's cheek, it had gone, much to the arrancar's disappointment. He opened his eyes to see Ichigo standing up, brushing at the wrinkles on his clothes. Ichigo raised an eyebrow at the teal haired arrancar that continued to sit on the ground, staring at him. "Well, are you coming or not?"

Grimmjow rose to his feet slowly and pulled the teen's body close to his, bringing them both into a tight hug. He buried his face in the crook of Ichigo's neck, taking in the boy's scent, his eyes wet with unshed tears. "Thank you, Ichigo," he murmured into the teen's neck. And he meant it. Ichigo stood still, shocked at the Sexta's sudden show of gratitude... or was it affection? After awhile, he slowly wrapped his arms around the taller man, returning him what he hoped to be a comforting hug.

Ichigo pulled back and brushed his lips across Grimmjow's forehead. "Now, let's go home," he said gently, taking Grimmjow's hand into his own.


End file.
